[This interview is previously unpublished.
I was planning to publish it in my magazine "Street Ratbag" issue
7/2 but issue 7/1 was the last issue - largely because my coeditor had lost
interest in it. Mike was born in Baltimore, as was I. I lived in Baltimore
City for the 1st 3 years of my life, then in Baltimore County for most of
the next 19 & then in Baltimore City for most of the next 18 years.

From 1969 or 1970 on I've considered myself
to be an anarchist (until if & when the context of anarchy becomes too
oppressive). Anarchy is usually considered to be the 'extreme left' &
I have identified with leftist political positions for most of my life.
Nonetheless, I don't consider myself to be a 'leftist', I find it too limiting.
I'm interested in whatever political analysis strikes me as the most fair
& the most evenly balanced. I don't want to be restricted to always
saying yes to whatever leftists (or anyone else) advocates. I prefer to
be a Free Thinker.

As such, I've always felt that I had an
uneasy alliance with the leftists of Baltimore. I have an imagination, many
leftists don't. Hence my deliberately 'lunatic fringe' IMP(ish) ACTIVISM
was frowned upon by the more humorless left.

When a bookstore I co-owned needed more
space we were offered an additional rental by our landlord in the basement
of another building across the street. The 1st floor was occupied by a leftist
group that almost never used it. When the woman who ran the group found
out that we were planning to rent the basement she came to our store &
threatened to burn our store down if we did. I assume she was afraid we'd
spy on her meetings or some such. Is that 'leftism' or NAZISM?! It seemed
peculiarly close to the latter for me.

Mike Bardoff & his collaborators in
BERN were (& probably still are) a refreshing variety of leftist activists
that I could strongly identify with. Mike's a friendly dedicated guy with
a great sense of humor who's honest & media-aware. Of all the activists
I've known in Baltimore he's one of the ones I respect the most.

For the moment. at least, I'm presenting
the article here as I originally laid it out for the Street Ratbag.]